[A-List] Oil-rich Venezuela's Leader Urges Energy Conservation

["Yoshie Furuhashi" <critical.montages@xxxxxxxxx>]

<http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/02/america/LA-GEN-Venezuela-Chavez-Goes-Green.php>
Oil-rich Venezuela's leader urges energy conservation

The Associated Press
Friday, February 2, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela

With the zeal of a die-hard environmentalist, President Hugo Chavez
plans to invest some of Venezuela's oil wealth in manufacturing solar
panels and has begun giving out millions of energy-saving fluorescent
light bulbs in homes nationwide.

Though his country survives on oil sales, Chavez is increasingly
talking up the environmental cause and urging the world to cut back on
oil consumption to prevent climate change.

He says Venezuela can serve as an example, but that remains a lofty
ideal for a country where car sales are booming and litter-strewn
streets are clouded with exhaust.

Some critics say Chavez's rhetoric frequently goes beyond his actions.
But he has been exhorting his followers to drive less and take public
transport, while the government plans a windmill farm on the coast and
is exploring more uses for clean-burning natural gas.

"Venezuela is one of the countries that least contaminates the
environment, but nevertheless we want to give an example and be at the
vanguard," Chavez told a news conference Thursday.

He called rampant U.S. oil consumption — which handsomely funds his
government — a leading cause of the world's environmental troubles.

"They're destroying the world," Chavez said, citing the melting
glaciers of the Andes and predictions of rising sea levels. "The human
race will be finished if we don't change the world capitalist system."

Leftist ideology colors Chavez's views, and he has spent time
discussing the dilemma of climate change with Cuban leader Fidel
Castro, his friend and mentor.

Castro's obsession with energy-saving has been caused in part by
Cuba's dependence on oil imports. Before he underwent intestinal
surgery last year, Castro was in the midst of an energy-saving crusade
in which he distributed pressure cookers and offered household tips on
television.

In contrast, Chavez's country is the fourth-largest oil supplier to
the United States and has traditionally had little reason to worry
about saving energy.

Internationally, some environmentalists warn that Chavez's plan to
build a South American natural gas pipeline across Brazil to Argentina
could be an ecological disaster.

Others, such as Venezuelan Deborah Bigio, say Chavez has interesting
ideas but that the country must put more emphasis on environmental
issues.

"I don't see clear environmental policies in Venezuela," said Bigio,
who heads the group Foundation for the Defense of Nature. She said
Venezuelans need to be given more concrete incentives to encourage
them to save energy.

Taking Cuba's lead, Venezuela has distributed millions of fluorescent
light bulbs in recent months, giving a bluish glow at nighttime to
slums that used to be filled with common yellow lights. Brigades of
Cuban workers have joined Venezuelans fanning out to replace the
bulbs.

"We see the savings," said Francis Izquierdo, a single mother in
Caracas who said her power bill is about half what it was before the
bulbs were replaced in her barrio.

Chavez's recent decision to raise gasoline prices domestically may
have an effect in persuading some Venezuelans to drive less. The
country's heavily subsidized gasoline prices — as little as US$0.12 a
gallon (€0.03 a liter) — have been unchanged for years and are among
the cheapest in the world, encouraging strong sales of gas-guzzling
sport utility vehicles.

Chavez said he also plans to open a solar energy research center to
eventually produce solar panels "in massive quantities" to supplant
power generated by hydroelectric dams. It remains unclear when that
project may begin.

Chavez said it might make sense to take up a proposal by Democratic
Assemblyman Lloyd Levine of Los Angeles, being debated in California,
to ban common incandescent light bulbs by 2012.
--
Yoshie
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